Monthly Archives: June 2012

First Things First- Managing Your Time

When I was younger my dad required me to read, 7 Habits of a Highly Effective Teen, by Stephen R. Covey.  He of course, read it as well, and continually lectured me on the importance of the 7 habits.

As I got older, and my dad finally assumed I encompassed those 7 habits, I became liberated of the daily references he made to Covey’s book. However, I should’ve known better, Covey reappeared when I began college.

As I faced deadlines, a constant flow of emails, and meetings as any usual employee or college student, I found the saying “Time is of the essence,” is in fact, spot on. There are only so many hours in the day I can mark tasks off my list no matter how late I try and stay up or early I drag myself out of bed.

Once again, my dad began persistently referencing Covey as a solution to my lack of time. Only this time, he referred to Covey’s adult version of the 7 habits- 7 Habits of a Highly Effective Person.  Due to I am not the only college student or employee facing the crisis of time management, I decided to for once, listen to my dad and Covey’s advice.

Therefore, today, I want to give credit to Stephen R. Covey’s time management method which all people may prosper from – Habit 3 Personal Management. Many methods of time management exist- checklists, calendars, and prioritizing our daily tasks.  One method Covey recommends which you may find more effective in the workplace and in your daily home life is a matrix of quadrants of importance.

Quadrant I- Urgent activities that cannot be ignored

Quadrant II- Important activities, but not urgent

Quadrant III-Urgent activities, but not important

Quadrant IV- Not important or urgent

 

In the matrix, the key to time management comes from Quadrant II.  If Quadrant II activities are done on a regular basis, you will find a tremendous improvement in your daily life. The time for Quadrant II activities comes from Quadrant III and IV. Covey believes that effective people do not spend time in Quadrant III or IV because such activities are unimportant to your goals in life.  One must find time to take on Quadrant I because procrastinating this quadrant results in the task getting bigger and bigger until you must deal with it. Relatively, Quadrant I will shrink with attention to Quadrant II as well with practice of classifying activities. Classification of quadrants requires: 1. Prioritization 2. Organization of priorities, and 3.Self- discipline. However, always be careful of confusing Quadrant I and II.

A critical skill for time management also requires delegation. Being able to effectively delegate tasks to others is highly important in the workplace when dealing with time management. Delegating allows you to devote your time to higher quadrant activities while enabling personal growth for other individuals.

I truly recommend utilizing or at least trying Covey’s personal management method to help you put your responsibilities into perspective. Performing time management and following Covey’s quadrants of importance will allow you to create a life congruent to your goals and values. For example, by following Covey’s method I managed to find time to write this blog!

 Adapted from “7 Habits of a Highly Effective Person,” by Stephen R. Covey

I-69: What’s Next for Section 5?

In the coming months, the footprint will be largely determined for I-69’s Section 5, the segment that stretches south of Bloomington near Victor Pike to just south of Martinsville.

In April, the Indiana Department of Transportation released a revised Screening of Alternatives outlining four potential scenarios for Bloomington’s section of highway, notably the location and design of interchanges as well as how large the route will be once constructed.

Morgan Hutton - Director of Advocacy & Public Policy

In short, Alternatives 4 and 5 are design options that were carried over from the original Screening of Alternatives published in 2007. Two new alternatives, 6 and 7, are identified as “minimal impact,” and are significantly different from the prior two in that they carry a much smaller footprint, utilizing the existing pavement, grade, structures and right-of-way of SR 37. Under these two scenarios, travel lanes would be added in urban areas on the inside of existing SR 37, with north and south lanes separated by a shoulder and centerline median barriers. Rural portions would continue to be separated by grassy medians.

With that, this column is not intended to provide a description or thorough explanation of what the highway may look like, or its utility, under any proposed scenario. (The full report can be found at i69indyevn.com) The point is – this is it, the time has come, and decisions must be made. It is prime time for members of the community – and key elected officials, to take a serious look at the options available and how we may best position ourselves to get the best deal we can.

Under each of the alternatives, there are tradeoffs. Should it be built in (smaller) or out (bigger)? At which locations is an underpass or overpass more appropriate than a full interchange, and vise versa? What types of interchange designs are more functional? Where are opportunities for non-motorist access? What is the tradeoff between desirable highway features and minimizing impacts to resources and right-of-way? There are still many questions yet to be addressed. And the clock is ticking.

This fall, INDOT will return to the Bloomington/Monroe County MPO to have preliminary engineering and right-of-way costs for Section 5 added to the local Transportation Improvement Program – a critical and timely step in the process to ensure necessary safety upgrades can happen on SR 37 before Section 4 opens to traffic bringing I-69 from Evansville to Bloomington by the end of 2014.

This means, to avoid an unnecessary stalemate between the local MPO and INDOT, we have to be prepared by knowing what our current options are and give good, reasonable input on community priorities and how those priorities serve to develop the most functional highway for the future.

How can you get involved? View the Section 5 Screening of Alternatives at i69indyevn.com and click on Tier 2 Environmental Studies. Public comment is being sought and can be submitted through the project website. Stay up to date on the latest by visiting the Hoosier Voices for I-69 website at www.buildi69.com and follow on twitter @buildi69.